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Recommendation: To achieve a better understanding of the effect of certain Personal care services (PCS) services on beneficiaries and a more consistent administration of policies and procedures across PCS programs, the Acting Administrator of CMS should collect and analyze states' required information on the impact of the Participant-Directed Option and Community First Choice programs on the health and welfare of beneficiaries as well as the state quality measures for the Participant-Directed Option and Community First Choice programs.

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid ServicesStatus: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: To achieve a better understanding of the effect of certain PCS services on beneficiaries and a more consistent administration of policies and procedures across PCS programs, the Acting Administrator of CMS should take steps to harmonize requirements, as appropriate, across PCS programs in a way that accounts for common risks faced by beneficiaries and to better ensure that billed services are provided.

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid ServicesStatus: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: Because USPS faces a deteriorating financial situation, and to help ensure that future promotions generate net revenue for USPS, the Chairman of the PRC should direct staff to evaluate USPS's data collection and analysis plans for USPS's proposed mail promotions and discuss these evaluations in the PRC decisions for those mail promotions.

Agency: Postal Regulatory CommissionStatus: Open

Comments: The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) said that it agreed with our recommendation. PRC has also noted the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is not required by statute to collect data on promotions and provide it to PRC. Based on the information it received, PRC approved USPS's Calendar Year 2017 promotions. However, USPS did not provide PRC with information regarding its plans to estimate the net financial results of the proposed promotions, as we recommended. As no such information was received, no evaluation of these plans was prepared by PRC, and this recommendation remains open.